Health Alerts for Thailand

Take the guesswork out of a healthy trip to Thailand. By visiting your local Thailand Travel Health Specialist and using this collection of Thailand Health Alerts you can rest-assured that you are prepared for common disease risks you may encounter during your travels.

INFLUENZA WorldwideNov. '17 – According to the CDC, annual vaccination against seasonal influenza is recommended for all people 6-months of age and older. Globally, influenza activity is low in most regions. In North America, influenza activity continues to decrease. In Europe, influenza activity continues to decrease in most countries. In northern Africa and the Middle East, influenza activity continues to decrease or remained low in most countries; however activity remained high in Jordan and Turkey. In the temperate countries of Asia, influenza activity continued to decrease, but continues to remain high in the Republic of Korea. In tropical countries of the Americas, influenza activity remains low in most countries. In tropical Asia, influenza activity began to decline in India but continued to decrease in southern China and Hong Kong SAR. In tropical Africa, influenza activity increased in western Africa, however Madagascar reported declining influenza activity. Lastly, in the southern hemisphere influenza activity remains at inter-seasonal levels.
Sources Include: International Society for Infectious Diseases, Center for Disease Control and World Health Organization.

CHIKUNGUNYA in ThailandNov. '17 - Chikungunya is known to occur during the rainy season in parts of Africa, Southeast Asia, southern India, and Pakistan. More recently the disease has also been reported in the Americas and South Pacific for the first time. According to the CDC, most people in the Americas are not immune to chikungunya so further spread is likely. Once infected people can infect and spread the virus to other mosquitoes. Chikungunya is often confused with Dengue fever, as the symptoms are similar, although chikungunya symptoms are less severe compared to dengue.
Local transmission of chikungunya has been reported in the following countries:
AFRICA: Benin, Burundi, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Comoros, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Guinea, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mayotte, Nigeria, Republic of Congo, Reunion, Senegal, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, and Zimbabwe.
AMERICAS: Anguilla, Antigua, Argentina, Aruba, Bahamas, Barbados, Belize, Bolivia, Bonaire, Brazil, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Colombia, Costa Rica, Curaçao, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, French Guiana, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guatemala, Guyana, Haiti, Honduras, Jamaica, Martinique, Mexico, Montserrat, Nicaragua, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Puerto Rico, Saint Barthelemy, St. Kitts & Nevis, St. Lucia, Sint Maarten (Dutch), Saint Martin (French), Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Suriname, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, U.S. Virgin Islands, U.S.A (several states - travel related), and Venezuela.
ASIA: Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar (Burma), Pakistan, Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Timor, Vietnam, Yemen.
EUROPE: France.
OCEANIA/PACIFIC ISLANDS: American Samoa, Cook Islands, Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa, Marshall Islands, Federal States of Micronesia, French Polynesia, New Caledonia, Papua New Guinea, Tokelau Islands, and Tonga.
Chikungunya fever is a disease caused by a virus that is spread to people through the bite of infected mosquitoes. Symptoms can include sudden fever, joint pain with or without swelling, chills, headache, nausea, vomiting, lower back pain, and a rash. In case of these symptoms people are strongly advised to see their doctor. Travelers should use mosquito nets when sleeping and apply mosquito repellents.
Sources Include: International Society for Infectious Diseases, Center for Disease Control and World Health Organization.

DENGUE FEVER in ThailandNov. '17 - Dengue Fever cases have been on the rise worldwide. According to WHO, incidence of dengue has increased 30 fold in the past 50 years. WHO estimates over 2.5 billion people are now at risk of dengue and there are about 50-100 million dengue infections worldwide every year. According to the CDC, dengue fever is the most common cause of fever in travelers who return from South Central Asia, Central America and the Caribbean.
Sources Include: International Society for Infectious Diseases, Center for Disease Control and World Health Organization.

MEASLES WorldwideNov. '17 - Health officials in France and the Democratic Republic of the Congo have reported an outbreak of measles.
You can get measles primarily by breathing in airborne particles that contain the virus. Symptoms of measles are rash, high fever, cough, runny nose, and red, watery eyes.
The best protection against measles is through vaccination.
SOURCES: CDC

HEPATITIS B in ThailandNov. '17 - According to the WHO, two billion people worldwide have been infected with Hepatitis B and about 600,000 people die each year because of it. Chronic Hepatitis B and C are among the leading causes of preventable deaths in Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar (Burma), East Timor, India, Indonesia, Maldives, Nepal, North Korea, Sri Lanka and Thailand.
According to health officials in Tibet, 61% of Tibetans living in Nepal are infected with Hepatitis B. According to a Chairperson of the National Association for Hepatitis Prevention (Hepasist), Bulgaria and Romania produce about 60% of hepatitis cases in Europe. According to to the National Health and Family Planning Commission nearly 1/3rd of the world's 350 million hepatitis B carriers are Chinese. According to the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, about 100,000 people in China are infected every year and vaccination has proven to be the most effective way to prevent hepatitis B virus infection. In India at least 1 in every 25 people living in North Chennai, in Tamil Nadu, have tested positive for hepatitis. According to the head of the Indonesia Liver Research Association (PPHI) only about 10 -20% of all hepatitis cases are detected. According to a Health Ministry study, 9.4% of Indonesians (about 30 million people) were found to be positive for hepatitis B or C. According to the Victorian Infectious Diseases Service, Hepatitis B affects about 200,000 Australians. According to the Ministry of Health, more than 700 cases of hepatitis B and at least 1000 cases of hepatitis C were detected among Kuwait’s citizens and residents in recent years. The prevalence of Hepatitis B virus infection in Pakistan is one of the highest rates in the world. According to health officials there has been a recent rise in Hepatitis B infections in Uganda's northern Nwoya district.
Hepatitis B is a liver disease. It can range in severity from a mild illness to a serious long-term (chronic) illness that can lead to liver disease or liver cancer. Hepatitis B is spread by contact with blood and other body fluids of an infected person. According to WHO, common methods of Hepatitis B virus transmission include, from mother to baby at birth, early childhood infections through close interpersonal contact with infected household contacts, unsafe injection practices, blood transfusions and unprotected sexual contact. Vaccination is recommended.
Sources Include: International Society for Infectious Diseases, Center for Disease Control and World Health Organization.